Hungary Stands By EU Budget Veto As Poland Shifts

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Friday that he would continue to block the EU's budget and coronavirus recovery fund over rule-of-law criteria, although his veto ally Poland signalled a possible compromise

Budapest (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Dec, 2020 ) :Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Friday that he would continue to block the EU's budget and coronavirus recovery fund over rule-of-law criteria, although his veto ally Poland signalled a possible compromise.

Budapest and Warsaw last month vetoed the EU's 1.8-trillion-euro ($2.1-trillion) budget and coronavirus rescue package over its tying of funds to respect for the rule of law.

Both governments are accused by Brussels of rolling back democratic freedoms, notably judicial independence in Poland and press freedom in Hungary.

Polish Deputy Prime Minister Jaroslaw Gowin said late Thursday that Warsaw could yield if a document is attached to the rule-of-law regulation to clarify how the criteria are applied.

Orban dismissed the idea and insisted Warsaw and Budapest have agreed to hold out on separating the funds from any rule-of-law conditionality.

"For us such a solution... that some kind of statement is attached to it, like some kind of reminder note pinned to a cardboard placard, will not work," Orban said during a public media radio interview.

He added that "the Poles cannot back out of the veto" after signing a deal with Hungary last week.

At their Budapest meeting, Orban and Polish counterpart Mateusz Morawiecki proposed decoupling EU payments from the row over the rule of law.

But Gowin said that Poland now wants certainty that the link between money and the rule of law only applies to issues related to transparent and fair use of EU funds.

A "binding interpretive declaration" from Brussels on the rule of law conditions could be enough to clinch a compromise, he told Polish media.